ihhwap1 wrote:1. Write about my relationship with my twin sister, and how we struggled to mold separate identities while attending the same collegec) Also, my sister and I are complete opposites in every way (physically and personality-wise) so I think it would be interesting.

I guess it wasn't much of a struggle then?EDIT: I'd prefer the other one, personally unless you have a really nice writing style and can make that topic into a great PS

I would say find an option 3. The one about your twin runs the risk of being too much about you in relation to her, when the PS should be about you alone. Writing about abortion is a touchy subject and may turn off some schools and like you said, you haven't done anything worth writing about with that club yet.

Also, it's important to note that while most people do connect their PS to their desire to go to law school, it is by no means required.

Lucky for you it's June and apps don't come out for 2 months. Back to the drawing board!

Both ideas have potential, but both ideas also have the potential to go wrong, for all the reasons flips stated. Both topics will be more challenging to write about than your typical PS, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth an attempt. Whether they are successful topics is pretty much going to come down to the strength of your writing abilities.

I would write a draft of each and see where it gets you. Post them here for feedback, if you are so inclined. That should give you a better idea of whether it's worth it to move forward with either of these, or whether you need to go back to the drawing board.

Neither of these are great unless they are written extrememly well and very insightfully. That said, it's worth a draft. Curious, what made you decide to go from devoting your time to a pro-life campaign to becoming involved in a pro-choice group? You state that you want to help pregnant women, but wouldn't your idea and the pro-choice group's ideas conflict a bit? How has that worked out? Building on that idea a bit could be a good idea if you want to keep that topic. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's taboo, it just needs to be handled well.

ihhwap1 wrote:Wow, thanks for the quick responses everyone! I agree with most of what has been said, and I suspect I will indeed have to go back to the drawing board.

If it helps, I already started a (really primitive) rough draft for option 1 just to see where it would go. Let me know what you guys think:

When I disclose to acquaintances that my sister, Mary [not her real name for the purpose of TLS], and I are twins, the information usually elicits one of two responses: “Wow, that’s so cool!” or “Holy <expletive>, you’re kidding, right?”

Inappropriate language aside, the latter response is certainly justified; Mary and I are only 11 minutes apart (I’m older), but the gap may as well be 11 years. Not only are we not identical twins, but we barely even look related. I’m about 5’6” with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skin, while she is about 5’1” with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. The running joke is that one of us was either adopted or wrongfully taken home from the hospital 22 years ago. In short, Mary and I look about as related as Marsha Brady and Wayne Brady.

And our differences don’t end at our appearances; our personalities are also inverted. I enjoy athletic and sports, while Mary would rather do less intensive activities. Mary enjoys the natural sciences (her major is Meteorology), while I’ve always enjoyed the humanities and liberal arts. More noticeably, I’m the more outgoing, gregarious one, while Mary is introverted and shy around strangers.

This brings me back to the first response, which declared how “cool” it is being a twin. In my early childhood, I would have agreed with that statement. Indeed, having a twin is like having an automatic best friend who knows all the same people you do and is going through the same life events at the same time.

It wasn’t until I was about 17 years old that I began having doubts about this whole twin thing. When parents have a set of twins, guidance counselors usually advise them to split the kids up in separate classes. This allows them each to form their own identity. This is exactly what happened for a decade of my schooling until 11th grade when, as fate would have it, Mary and I had every single class together. Mary was ecstatic, but I was skeptical. Despite our mountain of differences, we were collectively known as “The Johnsons” [again not my real last name for TLS]. As an 18-year-old kid trying to find her place in the world, that was not the identity I wanted to mold for myself.

Now, fast forward to my freshman year of college. I’m finally on my own and get my first sweet taste of independence. In my first week at State University, I made friends almost immediately in my dorm. Mary, however, was struggling to adjust. Her roommate had spent the summer at State U and seemed to have already filled her friend quota. Similarly, all the girls on her floor were intimidating and many involved in sororities.

(Faced with tough decision: do I incorporate Mary into my group of friends or do the tough love thing and let her find her own way? Etc. etc. etc.)

I think I agree with you guys that this seems kind of blah, and I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. Plus I focus too much on high school, I think. But before I completely write it off, is there any hope for me to turn it into something more interesting? Or more importantly, something that is useful for admissions officers? Thanks for your honesty!

I concur with the above. It's pretty blah and, well, I don't and adcomms won't care to learn about your sister.

The PS is a long process, or at least it was for me. I went through 3 or 4 completely different topics before I settled on one. It'll be frustrating, but eventually something will click. But I think it's clear that option 1 is not the way to go.

Flips88 wrote:I would say find an option 3. The one about your twin runs the risk of being too much about you in relation to her, when the PS should be about you alone. Writing about abortion is a touchy subject and may turn off some schools and like you said, you haven't done anything worth writing about with that club yet.

Also, it's important to note that while most people do connect their PS to their desire to go to law school, it is by no means required.

Lucky for you it's June and apps don't come out for 2 months. Back to the drawing board!

This. Even if you had done major work for your cause, it could stll be bad news bears

Yup your twin sister is definitely a no-no Your second topic, as I've said before, can be good if you tastefully write it with a great, compelling style. But if you are just going to point out the faults of abortion or preach to the adcoms, I suggest your religion is definitely a no-no as well.